The
second of the largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy,
the Queen Elizabeth Class carrier HMS PRINCE OF WALES, was
given the royal seal of approval when HRH The Prince of Wales,
(or Duke of Rothesay as he is referred to in Scotland), visited
Babcock’s Rosyth Facilities and signalled for the final
section to be lowered into place.

The
German and the Polish Navy signed an agreement that will lead
to the establishment of a joint “Submarine Operating
Authority”. The latest rapprochement builds on the 1999
military cooperation agreement and the 2013 maritime collaboration
agreement.

Russia
to lay down the first next generation Kalina-class diesel-electric submarine
in 2018

The fifth-generation lead Kalina-class diesel-electric submarine
will be laid down in 2018, a source in the Russian Armed Forces
said. "Of course, the Kalina project is actual for
us. This project is expected to be prosperous. We will lay
down the lead submarine in 2018," the source said.

Many
questions are raised from the integration of US-made Gatling
guns on North Korea’s patrol boats. According to the
South Korean Yonhap News Agency’s military sources,
North Korea has been replacing its legacy weapons with the
rotating heavy machine guns.

The Northern Fleet’s K-157 Project 971 nuclear-powered
submarine Vepr will join Russia’s Navy in 2016 after
repairs, the Zvyozdochka Shipyard said in an annual report
published on the Corporate Information Disclosure Center’s
website.

US
Navy awarded Fincantieri Marine Group design studies for LCU and T-ATS(X)

Fincantieri
Marine Group (FMG)) was awarded two contracts by the US Naval
Sea Systems Command, for Design Studies & Analyses Services
in support of the Landing Craft Utility (LCU) and the new
class of Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship T-ATS(X).

Russia’s
Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering developed
an air-independent propulsion unit for diesel-electric submarines
in 2015, according to the design bureau’s annual report
published on the Corporate Information Disclosure Center’s
website.

The
MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter recently deployed with
the USS Coronado (LCS-4) to begin flight operations using
its new maritime surveillance radar. The AN/ZPY-4(V)1 radar,
built by Telephonics Corporation, will be used to improve
the situational awareness of the Fire Scout operators and
the ship’s crew in maritime and littoral environments.
The AN/ZPY-4(V)1 will also improve Fire Scout’s target
classification for maritime and overland targets.

Tidespring, The First Tide Class (MARS) Royal Fleet Auxiliary
Tanker Started Sea Trials

A
picture was released this week showing the future RFA Tidespring,
the first of four new MARS (Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability)
tankers in builder sea trials off South Korea with Daewoo
Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME). The tanker is
expected in Falmouth, UK, later this year for military customisation.

MBDA
Italia has signed today a contract worth more than 1 billion
euros to supply the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces (QENF) with missiles
for their new naval vessels recently procured from Fincantieri.
In this respect, MBDA will be supplying the QENF in due course
with Exocet MM40 Block 3 anti-ship missiles as well as Aster
30 Block 1 and VL MICA air defence missiles.

US
Navy CNO met with French Navy Chief in Paris, Gave Award to CVN Charles
de Gaulle

On
June 24th, the French Navy (Marine Nationale) chief of staff,
Admiral Bernard Rogel, welcomed his US Navy counterpart, the
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral John Richardson in
Paris. This visit was an opportunity to highlight the excellent
cooperation between the two navies who are conducting joint
operations on every seas of the world with an unprecedented
level of interoperability.

New
Guided Missile Destroyer Project for ROC Navy Emerges out of Taiwan

Pictures
of a scale model and computer renderings of a new guided-missile
destroyer project for the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy
(ROC Navy) emerged last week in the 中国军事中國軍事武器 (China Military Chinese
Weapon) magazine. This new destroyer project is in line with
Taiwan's new naval acquisition plan which was unveiled late
last year. The new plan called for four new destroyers (among
other vessels).

The
Iceberg Central Design Bureau launched the development of
the Project 18290 instrumentation system vessel in 2015, according
to the latest annual report by the company, published on the
Corporate Information Disclosure Center‘s website.

India's
DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) formaly
handed over to the Indian Navy in a ceremony attended by India's
defense minister Manohar Parrikar. According to the DRDO,
Varunastra is the first indigenous state-of -the-art heavy
weight ship launched anti-submarine electric torpedo designed
and developed by Naval Science and Technological Laboratory
(NSTL), a premier lab of DRDO. It is capable of targeting
quiet and stealthy submarines...

The
Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard (SNSZ, a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding
Corporation) carries on building the second production-standard
Project 12700 minesweeper, according to the shipyard’s
press office.

Elbit Systems completed recently a trial test torpedo launch
from its Seagull multi-mission, autonomous Unmanned Surface
Vessel(USV) system. The trial, performed out of Israel's Haifa
port,demonstrated the capability of Seagull to install and
launch lightweight torpedoes, adding to the advanced capabilities
of the USV, which is designed to carry out unmanned maritime
missions, such as protection of critical sea areas and high-value
assets against submarines and sea mine threats.

Russia`s Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering
(a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) produced
the demonstrator of Klavesin-2R-PM unmanned underwater vehicle
(UUV) in 2015, according to the company`s 2015 annual report.

Russia’s
large amphibious assault ship Ivan Gren LST at sea for first
time during trials

Russia’s Project 11711 large amphibious assault ship
Ivan Gren built at the Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad in west
Russia has gone to the Baltic Sea for the first time during
its running trials, shipyard spokesman Sergei Mikhailov told
TASS.

The U.S. Navy installed a new AN/SPY-6 radar at the Advanced
Radar Development Evaluation Laboratory (ARDEL) at the Pacific
Missile Range Facility (PMRF) June 6. The delivery and installation
of the AN/SPY-6 radar at ARDEL followed the successful completion
of Near Field Range testing in Sudbury, Massachusetts in late
May, and marks the beginning of the Air and Missile Defense
Radar (AMDR) program's next phase of execution...

Rubin design bureau is set to create a series of modular unmanned
underwater craft, Director General of the company Igor Vilnit
told TASS. "We initiated the work to create a series
of autonomous unmanned underwater craft build according to
the module principle," he said.

From 6 to 16 June, Belgian Navy frigate Leopold I took part
in two multinational exercises near Andenes in Northern Norway,
beyond the Arctic Circle. Both exercises were intended to
test both anti-surface and anti-ship missiles defensive techniques.
During one of the exercises, the frigate launched a RIM-7
Seasparrow surface to air missile.

The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of USNS Carson City (EPF 7)
during a ceremony in Mobile, June 24. The ship, which was
constructed by Austal USA, is the seventh ship of the Expeditionary
Fast Transport (EPF) class.